DL13 Dragons of Truth (1e)

The key to victory is at hand as the Heroes of Legend set out on their final quest!

The port city of Kalaman seems as tranquil as a morning breeze. Yet on the horizon the terrible might of the Dragon Empire rushes unchecked, intent of the city's destruction. Poised now to meet them is the Army of Whitestone with its vaunted Solamnic Knights. The final conflict is at hand.

Yet hidden knowledge has come to light. The world is doomed unless a fearless band of heroes can pass through the lands of the evil empire into its very heart - the City of Neraka and the Temple of the Queen of Darkness.

Yet there are other forces at work in the lands of evil, forces unknown to the Dragon Empire and the Whitestone Council.

The Glitterpalace of Paladine is a fabled place of ancient times. No one knows where the door is to be found. No one walks its halls without being changed. Its invitations are subtle, but its truth is sure?for those who survive.

An adventure for characters level 10-13.

Product History

DL13: "Dragons of Truth" (1986), by Tracy Hickman, is the thirteenth in the Dragonlance Chronicles series of adventures. It was published in August 1986.

Continuing the "DL" Series. Though "Dragons of Truth" continues with the group of Companions from DL12: "Dragons of Faith" (1986), there's a bit of a jump in the narrative, as the the focus moves from the lands near Kathay to the city of Kalaman. There's also an abrupt change in the storyline: the previous adventure had suggested that players seek out the Glitterpalace of Paladine to learn knowledge from him, while this adventure instead dispatches players to Neraka, while the Glitterpalace has become a "hidden goal" that can be encountered by happenstance.

Despite this discontinuity, "Dragons of Truth" continues the epic story of the War of the Lance. However it's mainly setup, meant to get the Companions to the City of Neraka with the clues they need to foil the Queen of Darkness.

Dragon of the Month. Having covered the ten classic D&D dragons, the Dragonlance Chronicles now turns to the draconic gods. This adventure is about Paladine — also known as Bahamut or the Platinum Dragon. Players will enter his home, (hopefully) pass his tests, and (possibly) learn how to defeat his opposite number, Takhisis.

Adventure Tropes. Though it has fixed events and an underlying plot, "Dragons of Truth" is a pretty traditional D&D adventure, including an overland hexcrawl, a tunnelcrawl, and the exploration of the Glitterpalace, which is full of "tests".

The most innovative adventuring element in the "Dragons of Truth" may be the Council of Whitestone depicted in event 1, which lets players argue about grand strategic plans for ending the Dragonlance campaign.

Pick a Card … The Talis deck from "Dragons of Faith" returns in this adventure and is used to decide how the Queen of Darkness can be defeated, randomizing it from one of six possibilities. This was presumably done to keep players in the dark even if they've read the novels (or the adventures!); however as a simple randomizer, it doesn't have the prophetic depth of similar readings in "Dragons of Faith" or I6: "Ravenloft" (1983).

The Novel Connection. This is a very transitory adventure, focused on getting the Companions to the city of Neraka, so it's no surprise that it gets just slight attention in Dragons of Spring Dawning (1985). The adventure is covered in just 40 pages in the novel, in chapter 1-4 of Book 3 of Spring Dawning: the Companions reunite with Fizban, crashland in the lands near Neraka, visit Godshome, and learn the secret of Berem; the Glitterpalace is nowhere to be found.

Expanding Krynn.Dragons of Truth details the wilderness surrounding Jelek and Neraka, in northeasten Ansalon. With Solamnia to the west and the Blood Sea to the east, it's a nicely centralized land, bracketed by a few locales that had already received attention in earlier adventures.

About the Creators. Hickman was, of course, the leader behind the Dragonlance conspiracy. This was his own final contribution to the adventures, though that's probably because he was busy at the time on the Dragonlance Legends novels (1985-1986). He'd return to RPGs to co-author the Dragonlance Adventures (1987) hardcover the next year.

About the Product Historian

The history of this product was researched and written by Shannon Appelcline, the editor-in-chief of RPGnet and the author of Designers & Dragons - a history of the roleplaying industry told one company at a time. Please feel free to mail corrections, comments, and additions to shannon.appelcline@gmail.com.

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